Chapter 2: Meeting Strangers and Lots of Walking

"Barnes! Your back again I see, Couldn't get enough of us?" It was the pudgy one who spoke out. While he did so, he pushed his glasses from the tip of his nose to the bridge. I was appalled by the rudeness toward the driver. For a second, I thought about saying something back to him, but quickly realized the better of the situation. They were probably friends. Yes, friends. This noodle haired piglet is just playing, not being a slob. I glanced up to see Barnes' face. It certainly showed irritation, but he held his composure well. Looking back, the taller one opened his sunshine grin to speak.

"Oh, hush George. Mr. Barnes isn't fond of this part house, remember?" Even his speech was proper and eloquent. His posture was as noticeable as Barnes'. However, the "bull in a china shop" was not shy of a uncleaned lou with a slouch that matched Quasimoto's. I wondered what the relationship was between the Shining Boy and the Raw Bones in front of Barnes (I stood a little bit behind him). "So, how may we help you Mr. Barnes?" polite and to the point. I saw Barnes' shoulders relax, yet tense as he motioned my way. I tensed as the boys' eyes laid upon my figure. The two remained in the states they had when they had open the door. Yet the light in them had... shattered for some reason. The one with the smile briefly looked near the top of my head for a split second before returning his gaze. I clutched my fishbowl tighter.

"I'm here to drop off a new student, Lockwood. To do that, I need to go through the house." Barnes spoke in an aggrieved tone of voice. Something changed then. That sentence. I stood stiff, not wanting to move from the place I was now finding quite comfortable, clutching the edge of my fishbowl. Silently, the boys turned to each other with pained faces and nodded. They moved to the side and let us pass. Barnes went inside first while I followed suit.

As I passed the two boys, I felt a hand tap on my back. A shiver crawled up my skin. If there was one thing I hated almost as much as liars, it was people touching me. I pivoted on my heel, flinching away at the contact and immediately backing away. I glared at the two boys. The chubby one, George, I believed, had his arm extended, his eyes hidden beneath the glare in his glasses. I assumed he was the one who dared to touch me. His face looked all the more slappable in that instant. The tall one, however, who I assumed was Lockwood, stood with his hands in his coat pocket. His eyes darker than when he had opened the door. He gave me a small smile and mouthed the words 'good luck'. My facial expression changed from annoyed to confused. I paused a moment, staring at them before following Barnes once again.

These two were just pulling my chain. Although I doubt I'll enjoy my time here, it still can't be too bad. I hoped I was right as I moved like a duckling. After moving through a long, velvet covered hallway with several different passages on the sides, we came up to another set of large doors. As Barnes' opened them, immediate nausea and dizziness followed. I couldn't understand why, since I hardly ever got nervous. I closed my eyes and began to slow. I don't remember if I kept moving, or stopped completely, but I was taken out of my thoughts as my name was said.

"Miss Carlyle, are you alright? You look as if you've seen a ghost." Barnes looked concerned. I found that phrase oddly funny. If I was to see a ghost here, my face would not have been pale, I thought. I visibly relaxed my body before responding in a calm tone.

"Yes, quite." I looked up at him as I spoke. There was a small flash as if a spark had gone off inside his brown eyes. Shaking my head for the second time, I walked out with Barnes into what I believed to be the courtyard. And I can say one thing I remember for sure. If this was a courtyard, then the yard I grew up in was a flower pot.

And I had lived on an acre of land.

The grass was a luscious green and the several garden patches held vibrant colors. It was strange for early October. The grew tall, trees, bushes, vines wrapped around wooden frames to make verandas, it was all so breathtaking. Yet the leaves retained their luscious green. It was odd that they had bloomed so grandly, but these thoughts were far from my mind as I looked around. There were several buildings on the outside of the yard, all smaller than the one I had come out of, but nonetheless, they were very large. Two of them seemed to rival in height, spanning almost half of that of the castle. Kids my age and younger still could be seen in front of the buildings and from the windows. As Barnes' and I traveled down the main road, I looked around at all of the kids. There were so many it was hard to count. There were even some young adults lounging around the place. All of them so different, yet probably here for the same reason. I counted about 5 to 6 large buildings along the sides and one smaller building at the end of the path. I assumed that's where we were heading.

As we continued walking, I began to see the looks on their faces. Most of them were happy, some were sad or distraught, and others… Others looked out at the other houses with sneers or grimaces, whispering under their breaths hateful comments and accurate jabs to their colleges. Great, I thought to myself at the time, I was dragged out of the back talking only to enter rivalries. What next, an evil leader threatening to overthrow all order to the school? I chuckled softly at my own humor. Throughout the walk, Barnes and I never spoke a word. Passing the houses, I caught the glances and stares of everyone who had managed to spot me on the pathway. What was once a buzzy field was now similar to that of a sleeping child, only small peeps of breath could be heard as sleep fell upon it. I grew nervous with all the attention now centered my way.

Luckily, I didn't have to wait that long.

The building that was once far off into the distance was now footsteps away from me. I drew closer and closer with every step. Yet every step I took, I became nauseous once again. A cold wind chilled my innards as the porch grew ever so near. Oddly enough, there was no wind, and there ceased to be even a faint breeze in the air. I raise my foot to move up the first porch step…

"Wait out here." I blinked, putting my foot down and looked up just in time to see Barnes disappear into the house, leaving my suitcase full of clothes at the bottom of the steps. I almost opened my mouth to give a comment on my situation but thought the better of it as the door creaked to a close. Perplexed, I sat on my luggage with my fishbowl on my lap. Unconsciously, I tapped on the glass in random patterns while I waited for Barnes' return. I stared anywhere my eyes could land, the hills rising in the far east, the small speck to the far left of the castle but rather far off from it. Even the houses and the ant-like kids. I began to wonder how on earth the people in here made this long of a trek to the castle and came back without complaining or relocating within the first year? Assuming this place was even open for that long. I don't know how long I waited out there as I stared into thought

Suddenly the door creaked open, causing me to jump up. I fumbled with the fishbowl as I turned around to face the door. Barnes was standing at the door. His face was red and his fist was clenched. What had caused his anger, I wasn't sure, but I knew it couldn't be good. His eyes caught mine for a split second before his wiped his face with his hand and shut the door, struggling not to slam it as hard as he could. He bent his head, still facing the door with a hand on the nob, calmer now than when he had exited. I remained silent, awaiting his verbal instructions. I may not have liked the fact I was here, but I sure as hell can tell a good-person-doing-their-job from a psycho.

"Follow me." His voice was strained. He grabbed the handle of my bag that he left before the staps. Hesitantly, I trailed behind him. Whether or not I could trust him was difficult to answer. I'd learned never to trust a frustrated man, but this one seemed… ok. So, long as there was no alcohol involved, I believed it would be alright to follow him. The sun was setting fast over the horizon as we traveled back across the pathway toward the castle. This time, the distance seemed to be even longer than it had the first time. As the shadows covered the plants and the field, I began to see a side of this place that was eerily familiar to me. Everything began to reveal a beautiful dark side to it. The plants closed themselves as the light drew away from their petals. All the color drained from the garden in under minutes.

The buildings which once looked nice and inviting were showing their imperfections under the shadows of dusk. The bright white walls on the outsides of the buildings showing a gray tone as the moon rose in place of the sun. I looked ahead at the castle, we were only halfway there, and saw its change in tone as well. Instead of being the magnificent structure I had seen before, in its place was taken over by a palace of Dark. Unlike before, it was strangely uninviting. There was an odd lack of light in the entire building Yet, as I squinted my eyes trying to look closer, a tiny speck of light could be seen going in and out of a window near the top of the structure. Seeing that, I cracked a small smile and drew my attention from the window, focusing on my surroundings.

Slowly apparitions began to form in the lonely courtyard. One by one Barnes and I were surrounded by small flecks of light. I always imagined fireflies to look like this, but the show around me was way more pretty than anything a firefly could put on. As the night day grew almost non-existent the apparitions began to form solid images. Sure, quite a few of them were a bit gory to look at, but most of them were kids. They began to play around and dance to songs invisible to my ears. I glanced at Barnes, but it was obvious that he didn't see the same things she did. He didn't see the ghosts keeping each other company in the dark silence of the night. He didn't hear their harmonious laughter or the way some of the older apparitions spoke. He was oblivious to the side the moon brought out, oblivious to the flip side of everything.

Almost everyone I have ever met was.

I used to live my life seeing the beauty in the night and the horrors it could reveal. Even now it was showing the true hue of this place. There was so many dead roaming around. The ones not mingling forced the think of their deaths for eternity. They mostly stuck to the garden areas, along with a few stragglers near the entrances of the buildings. Sitting in thought. Most of the ghost, however, looked… scared. In part, it was because of the emotions that remained at the times of their death. The other half was probably the dark feelings that surrounded all of the houses. The larger buildings held the strongest perception of malice, but nevertheless, every house carried some type of tension and hate. The castle dilated with less and less distance. Finally, we were reaching the big heavy doors of the ent-

"This way." I hadn't noticed Barnes start walking on a different, smaller, less worn path. So much for almost there. I retraced a few steps and turned left, following the wiser man. It was hard to see the path due to the little light around me -well, I should say lack of ghosts present- to help walk me down the rest of the way without tripping. Gently, as to not alert Barnes, I began to tap on the glass again. I stopped for a few seconds, expecting some type of stirring, but none came. I tapped a little more impatiently, still not getting a response. I found it weird since the skull usually kept me up all night talking and jabbering about needless things that popped into its head. While waiting for it to appear, I looked ahead to see our destination and with a small realization, I found that it was the small speck I was staring at while waiting for Barnes.

It was a four-story house, similar to ones you see in the city. Actually, almost exactly like you would see in the city, only this one was a bit older and carried a bit more class. The exterior was white with faded green shutters, but, unlike the others, the colors fit nicely with the mood of this house. Unlike the other buildings, this one was… happy. Yet there was a hint of sadness as we drew closer to the front gate. My curiosity rose with every inch I moved forward toward the house. Something about it picked at my mind as if I was meant to do something there.

The small breeze tickled the back of my neck as Barnes and I came to a halt in front of the iron gate. A wooden sign was pegged, rather unprofessionally outside the gate. It read:

LOCKWOOD & CO. HOUSE

AFTER DARK, RING THE BELL AND WAIT BEYOND THE PORCH

Very charming, I thought sarcastically as Barnes ignored the sign and opened the wonky mental gate. The closer I got to the wooden doorway, the more I saw the house's imperfections. Every surface area looked like it needed a coat of paint or at least a thorough hand wash. The walls were chipped in some areas and the door looked like it needed sanding. From what I saw of its rusted handle the door was rather old. A knocker hammered into the wood was the joining of two rapiers from where the knocker piece hung. Barnes, instead of using the doorbell beside us or the knocker, simply knocked on the door. He knocked three times and stepped back to stand next to me.

We didn't wait very long until we heard footsteps coming toward the door. Abruptly, the footsteps stopped in front of the door. A second of silence followed before chains were taken down. I started getting a bit nervous. where on earth did this man take me that was so secluded yet it had three to four locks just on the front door? The handle turned. Each second waiting for the door to open was like an eternity. I started to think about the boy who smiled at me. It was the first time since the accident anyone had smiled at me without knowing me, and it may as well have been my last. The door opened ever so slowly…

Aside from the bright light, I was blinded by the image of the unkempt bear from before, this time in his nightie and cap. Granted it was a navy blue, but I definitely did not need to see that much of this boy. I held back any of my facial expressions that would be attached or seen as disgusted. After all, I was at their house. Moreover, why was I at their house in the first place? George, at least I thought that's what I'd remembered his name was, fixed his glasses and looked at Barnes and me. His face was as stone-like as I'd seen this afternoon. A small sigh escaped him before he tilted his head back.

"Lockwood!" He didn't yell to loud, I'd barely even count it as a yell. However, not even milliseconds later had the other boy joined him.

"Who is it Geor-" He cut himself off as soon as he saw Barnes over George's head. I saw his eyebrows crease as he started to speak again, but unfold as he continued to speak. "Barnes? I don't believe we have done anything wrong, but out of general curiosity, why have you come to our door?" I watched as the three males addressed each other formally, yet casually at the same time. Barnes straightened up as he got ready to speak.

"Well, Lockwood, it seems as though you have a new colleague to take care of and show her the ropes." I stared at Barnes, not really expecting those words to fly out of his mouth at that moment. The other two were as dumbfounded as I was. Quickly my confusion was replaced with my earlier frustration. Couldn't he even bother to take care of me himself? What, was it that these were the only two people on this massive estate I knew, so obviously I'd be bunking with them? What the bloody hell was going on here! "I do hope you take good care of Miss Carlyle here. Now, I must be off" Barnes gave me a small pat on the shoulder before turning and heading back the way we came.

I wanted to scream in fury. I hid it from my face, but still, I could feel my resolve breaking as he passed through the gates and closed them shut. I made to call out for him but was stopped by a chipper voice that brought me out of my enraged thoughts.

"So, I suppose we should show you around and then to your room, you look like you've had one hell of a day." I turned to see the one called Lockwood with the handle to my other suitcase in his grasp. I closed my mouth, and nodded. No matter how angry i had been at Barnes, I was tired, and I was not about to pass up a bed just because I was confused and frustrated. I entered the house with my fish bowl in one hand and my important suitcase in the other. I passed the one who I assumed was George and entered the hovel. It wasn't like any home I had seen. If anything, it was weirder than my imagination to normal people. Masks and random items along with some newspaper clippings and photos hung from the wall. We first stopped into a living room.

I stood amazed by the feel of this room alone. White walled and cheery with a few mismatching sofas along with a singular chair at the helm of the room facing toward the fireplace. The entire house was so calming and comforting, I almost wanted to fall asleep then and there. In fact, I almost had, had it not been for male behind me.

"If I had any common sense, I'd sleep here if you weren't going to move." Irritation pricked my brain as I continued on. Lockwood had dropped my suitcase before a set of stairs and was waiting for us. His bright smile ever so prominent on his face.

"Alright, leave your things here and I'll give you a small tour of the down stairs, then I'll briefly show you the upstairs rooms as we go up to show you to your room." I nodded and set my suitcase before the stairwell. I placed the fish bowl with the skull gently atop it before following Lockwood into the house further. We hadn't taken more than a few steps before the smiling boy turned around suddenly, startling me a bit with the suddenness. "Right, we should probably introduce ourselves first. I am Anthony J. Lockwood. This charming bloke behind you is George Cubbins." He held out his hand for me to shake. I took a moment to think of what to say before I let my words fly in manners they shouldn't.

"I'm Lucy Carlyle." I took his hand, unaware of the things happening around me. Lockwood's smile faded and his firm handshake grew flimsy as he spotted something behind us, near my things. I froze upon hearing a faint pop of rising plasma. This is one reason why I hated touching people. They began to see things they never used to see. I disengaged my hand from his and played it off like I didn't know what was going on. "Um… are you alright Mr. Lockwood?" I tilted my head to add to the confusion charade. Internally, I was cursing at the skull and its horrible timing

"Ah, yes. I just thought I saw something…" His voice trailed off as he stared in the general direction of the stairwell. After a few seconds his head snapped back to me his gleaming grin returning. "Well, let's get on with it then." First stop was the kitchen. There were a lot of oddities strewn around the room. The cupboards were relatively small in size, but there were quite a few of them so it made up for it. Atop the oven were four different size gas burners the counter tops spanning from it. A small refrigerator also occupied the rather large, yet small, kitchen. In the middle of it all was a wooden table with the strangest cloth covering the surface. Doodles, notes, drawings and food stains dominated most of the strange cloth.

"That, is the thinking cloth, Miss Carlyle. We use it for many things, like figuring out problems and things going on or leaving notes if one of us leaves-"

"Or exchanging rude messages when we are mad at each other." My eyebrows crinkled at the thought of this ball of charisma and joy to be one to exchange rude messages.

"Does that happen often?" I crossed my arms. Apparently I caught Lockwood off guard with my sudden will to speak and ask questions.

"No, no, no" He reassured. "Almost never." A snort came from behind me.

"I never knew the great Lockwood could fib." Lockwood glared at George, but smiled back at me a moment later. He clapped his hands together, gesturing a bit.

"I have yet to show you the office room or the basement! And guess what? It's just over here-" The main floor was comprised of a washroom, kitchen, sitting room and library. It was probably the place where most time was spent. The basement, reached from the kitchen, was comprised of a few offices and a large area. They explained that this was where projects, homework, and practicing generally got done, along with laundry. As they showed me around these places, I learned that these two were the only ones who occupied the house. No other kids and no adults. I didn't ask too many questions, I could deal with only knowing the basics for now.

After the basement tour, George went to the library while Lockwood finished my tour. He carried my other suitcase, while I carried my important suitcase and fishbowl, upstairs. The second floor was stock full of books on shelves along with more masks and random artifacts. Lockwood pointed to the doors as he spoke.

"The last one is my room, and on the other side is George's room. Tread with caution there. I once caught him naked stress eating during last year before finals." I shuddered at the thought as did Lockwood. I felt bad for Lockwood for having that burned into his mind. "And the one beside his door is the bathroom if you ever need it." I noticed a door that he hadn't mentioned. It had a different feel than the other rooms, that small eb of sadness I had felt when Barnes and I were walking over here. Naturally, my mouth took over in my state of comfort due to the house.

"What that door for?" Lockwood turned and smiled politely at me.

"That one's private, if you don't mind. Not really that interesting. Now let's go up to your room, shall we?" I simply nodded and tread behind him. The next place was the attic landing. There were only two doors. One was a cramped bathroom, but I didn't mind it too much so long as it was easy to work around. The second was a room with a bed. Opposite of the bed was a large window. The room was only big enough for a dresser, wardrobe with a mirror on the door, and the single bed. I liked it immediately. It was way better than my room back h- from where I had come. "This used to be my room when I was little. The last one to sleep here was a student a few years ago." My mouth went off again.

"What happened to him?" I watched Lockwood's smile fall a bit, but reform as he spoke.

"He passed on. Rest his soul, fell of another house's roof. Anyways, I do hope this room is alright." A small gulp emitted from my throat, but I responded calmly.

"I'd be pleased to, thank you." I smiled widely at the boy. I don't know what happened to him, but he must not have been feeling very well. His eyes widened a bit and his cheeks turned slightly pink before he turned toward the door and began to walk out. He left my there suitcase beside the dresser.

"Alright, I'll see you in the morning. Don't worry about waking in the morning. Neither of us are early risers." He left me and my suitcases in the small room, closing the door behind him. I set the skull on the dresser and went to unpack. I put everything in my important suitcase inside of the dresser, placing everything neatly inside each drawer. Books in one, note books in another, supplies in another, sketchbooks, paints with a small easel, and finally blank canvases. After that, I hung my clothes in the armory. After I had finished unpacking, I changed into my nighty, creating a pile of clothes in the top left corner from the door. I didn't bother getting under the covers, I was already slipping away into my mind. You'd think that I would be wide awake with the nap I had in the taxi, but after all of that walking, my mind begged to differ. I sighed, listening to the silence of the night and the far off laughter from the night ghouls, drifting off into a silent sleep.

I barely heard the words, "Goodnight kid." before I was dead to the world

A/N: OK, this was a lot more than I intended to write. As you can see I copied the detail from the book along with some lines. While being in a different world, the two will clash in this story. As the story progresses i won't use book dialogue, but for some instances, i may. I do have some things planned that are totally non-book related. Also, i am looking for songs to add onto Lucy's Ipod for later chapters, so if you have a song you recommend, i'll be happy to listen to it and see if i can fit it into the story. I'm not sure how many chapters this will have, but the first story Arc, the Arrival is done. The Summer Sneaks Arc starts next chapter. I know i'm going in book order though, so you can base my progress off of that. Again, if there are any mistakes feel free to call me out on it. I will also try to post some story by sunday every week, but if i'm late i'll try to make it longer and less mistake free.

So Stay Tuned and Thanks For Reading!

~Pheonix